Religious Right crack-up continues

Now it’s Sarah Palin’s turn. That icon of right-wing identity politics, revered for her populist authenticity and lack of any taint of elite intellectualism, shows herself either to be involved in an as-yet-to-be-revealed scandal, or so nakedly ambitious that she lightly breaks her commitment to the people of Alaska. Can’t wait to see how her apologists will spin this bit of hypocrisy.

47 comments

My head is spinning from the spinning. I read, occasionally, at a conservative site that’s become dominated by the kind of people who think the essential/only qualifications for the presidency are loving God and being able to shoot and field-dress a moose. So far, they’ve said that this is a brilliant (spelled “brillent”) political move, that Sarah’s the new George Washington, that this proves she’s putting Alaska first, that she’s going to form a new political party to vanquish the anti-Christ…all this couched in language that, shall we say, betrays a certain lack of familiarity with standard English grammar and punctuation.

I have no idea why she did what she did. She hasn’t given a specific reason. That in itself is strange. Maybe she was shrewd enough to figure out that the yokel shtick has a short shelf life and a smaller demographic.

For a fleeting moment I wondered if we’re not about to be treated to an announcement that Daughter Number Two is pregnant. Palin has apparently tweeted that an explanation of some sort is forthcoming, and that the news, or whatever, is good. I suppose a second daugher pregnant and unmarried and still in junior high school might be construed by some as good news.

No spin needed. The base LOVES her no matter what. That will be enough to make her a serious candidate for the nomination. Considering what a lightning rod she has always been, today’s news will barely register as a blip on the screen three years from now. In other words, she was never going to win based on her record in Alaska.

This move avoids the risk of further downturn in her domestic popularity at home and, more importantly, lets her focus her energies on things that matter to her (which do not include governing Alaska).

That’s a very arguable charge, and likely unwarranted. Neglecting the duties of elected office while embarking on a campaign, the standard operating procedure for politicians who hold one office while simultaneously running for another office, is a more substantive example of “breaking commitment to the people” than informing the people that you’re not going to impede the potential accomplishments that could develop from the Governorship by occupying the office and directing your energies elsewhere.

Governor Palin ran on a platform, she accomplished much of what she set out to do, and thus she has fulfilled her promise to the people of Alaska. She would be breaking faith with the people if she simply remained as a chairwarmer while eying a different prize.

I would certainly view an employee as breaking faith with an employer if they continued to come to work but spent most of their time engaged in sending out resumes and networking for a job with another firm. I’d much prefer that the employee, who has achieved what they came on board to accomplish, step aside and allow a junior to step up and give his all in the new job.

Come to think of it, we occasionally see this type of behavior in the military, and up or out process, a stepping aside when a career is stalled so as not to impede the promotion flow. Some folks might label this as honorable behavior. YMMV.

Hoo, boy. Just watched the video. What an embarrassment–rambling, illogical–pure Sarah, in other words. And what gall. She dares to present her quitting as an act of courage? And by what law would she be inevitably “wasting” taxpayer dollars having decided not to seek a second term? “Some Alaskans don’t mind wasting public dollars and state time. I do. I cannot stand here as your Governor and allow millions upon millions of our dollars go to waste just so I can hold the title of Governor. And my children won’t allow it either.” So she has no capacity to govern responsibly absent reelection pressures?

Nice that she now decides that Trig needs her, since such maternal considerations didn’t seem to inhibit her run at the highest office in the land (as POTUS in waiting). And I am highly skeptical that anyone would have made “mean-spirited” comments about him.

If she really is so down-to-earth, why doesn’t she just come out and say: “I’m running for president.” Oh, but she is now on record as turned off by “superficial wasteful political bloodsport,” as opposed to fighting abroad, so that must not be her agenda.

It is beyond me how anyone would not be repulsed by such a pathetic effort at self-justification, even if it were more coherently presented. But at least she prayed before reaching her decision, so we know that she is a person of faith and thus a True American.

TangoMan :
Governor Palin ran on a platform, she accomplished much of what she set out to do, and thus she has fulfilled her promise to the people of Alaska.

And then she ran out of ideas, I guess.

Ideas have to be executed in the most appropriate forum in order to achieve optimal results.

So, let me join you in factless speculation.

Ad Arguendum:

1.) Her new or evolving ideas may require a different office in order to see them come to fruition;
2.) The marginal gain of new ideas may not overcome the marginal cost required to implement them in an environment where she’s incurring $500,000 of personal legal costs per year in order to operate as Governor;
3.) The success of her existing reforms for increased transparency, marginally reduced government, improved fiscal management, reduced corruption, etc may have led her to believe that they need to be rolled out a.) in other states, or b.) nationally, and that her time is best spent bringing wholesale change to a larger audience that wringing out minute imperfections that only benefit the people of Alaska.

In the end, or at this point at least, we don’t know Jack, but it certainly can be fun playing “what-if” with randomly tossed out conjectures.

And I am highly skeptical that anyone would have made “mean-spirited” comments about him.

I not familiar with the boundaries of your skepticism or whether your use of the term “comments about him” incorporates enough latitude to include cruel and disgusting photoshops of her son, see Wonkette and a raft of left-leaning blogs for a tour of “Progressive Trig Art,” but I’m not skeptical in the least that the facial distortions of Trig that were incorporated into the artwork were mean-spirited and I happen to include art as a form of commentary.

Nice that she now decides that Trig needs her, since such maternal considerations didn’t seem to inhibit her run at the highest office in the land (as POTUS in waiting).

That’s an interesting charge that you’re making and considering that I can’t find a relevant portion of her speech which makes direct reference to “Trig needing her now” as opposed to previously not needing her. I think that you’re taking her phrase “I know he needs me, but I need him even more…” out of context, in that this is standard boilerplate for politicians talking about the importance of their families, and not, as you characterize it, as a sudden dawning on her of her maternal role.

It is beyond me how anyone would not be repulsed by such a pathetic effort at self-justification,

That’s funny and it quite captures the flavor of the alleged Pauline Kael “Nixon Quote.” Bravo.

Well, the latest speculation from her more fevered acolytes is that she and Rush Limbaugh (who apparently has announced that he’s involved in some sort of secret project) are going to form a new political party.

Come on people, post my comment, everyone else said something negative about the moron Obama. I like Sara Palin, she is one heck of a lot smarter then obama, he is more evil and sneaky, backed by a lot of evil people in this country and SATAN. We aren’t going to live much longer because of him, we are getting closer and closer to death at the hands of Obama. So, all of you Obama worshippers, you had better kiss your sorry asses good bye, you are not long for this world.

President Obama: “When Governor Palin decided to campaign for the Office of the President, she quit the office of Governor of Alaska. What does that say about the candidate?”

Governor Palin: Yes, it’s true that I resigned the office of Governor, and I did so knowing full well that it would give my opponents the opportunity to hurl cheap charges against me, but I did so with a true servant’s heart, in that unlike President Obama who did not follow the same honorable course, and thus shortchanged his constituents by not giving his full attention to the duties of Senator as he ran for President, I believed that the people of Alaska deserved a Governor who would devote all of their energy to the task of governing and as a candidate for the Presidency, I felt that I couldn’t do justice to both endeavors, so I put the interests of my constituents ahead of my need for job security, and resigned, knowing that such an act would generate cheap shots and add to the efforts of character assassination targeted at me, but I was also confident that people of good conscience would prefer a candidate for higher office not shortchange the voters who elected them another office.”

In terms of political courage, her act is certainly not extraordinary, but it certainly isn’t something that could be characterized as a result of a risk minimization strategy.

She knows she going to take hits for her decision, but the decision is, when compared to the Obama and McCain alternatives, the more honorable one.

If we learned only one thing from the Obama run, it should be that there is little harm in starting a primary run early.

Governor Palin has a few more challenges ahead of her when compared to Obama’s run or those of her 2012 competitors, in that she needs to wrestle control of her image away from her opponents. Unlike most candidates, she’s not unknown to the general public, and thus not a blank slate. Look at Obama, he was seen as a vessel into which acolytes could pour them own hopes and dreams. It doesn’t get much better than that for a candidate. Palin certainly doesn’t have that gift being handed to her, so she was to actually change people’s minds. That’s going to take time.

Secondly, the Republicans need to once again develop an effective grass roots organization that can go toe-to-toe with the Forces of ACORN. While ACORN has graft and dead people helping the cause, the Republicans will have to rely simply on enthusiasm and volunteers. That’s going to take a lot of effort to develop. Palin draws crowds, she resonates with people, and those are two necessary preconditions to developing an effective grass roots organization – few unenthusiastic people advocating for a candidate is what we saw with the McCain campaign.

grass roots is irrelevant without elite support. ask mike huckabee. elite support is irrelevant without grass roots. ask mitt romeny. unfortunately much of the public has palin pegged as a moron. nothing’s impossible, but only a true believer would be willing to take bets. the bizarre rambling speech she just gave sure isn’t disabusing those who think she’s a moron (though of course believers think it’s sterling genius, though in this case that set excludes even star-struck rich lowry).

but of course most of the popularity of parties and ergo their candidates is cyclical and exogenous to the nature of parties themselves.

She knows she going to take hits for her decision, but the decision is, when compared to the Obama and McCain alternatives, the more honorable one.

seriously. no one knows why she did what she did. you should just tell people to stop psychoanalyzing instead of going into svengali mode about how she’s honorable. talk in 7 days when time will tell if there’s a scandal or if she’s figured out a plan to conquer the world along with rush.

Look at Obama, he was seen as a vessel into which acolytes could pour them own hopes and dreams. It doesn’t get much better than that for a candidate.

Sure, so long as you put aside the stories Obama had to contend with, such as his not being an American citizen; his being a secret Muslim; his being a militant Afro-American Christian (and a Muslim at the same time? How talented.); how he’s a Saudi plant, etc. etc. Yeah, what an unfair advantage. These allegations received far more attention than anything Palin ever did, whether it was true or untrue.

The only reason it may seem Palin’s being excessively attacked is because she loves to gab about it in the media. Her modus operandi is to obtain celebrity status. She marketed herself as a media personality in order to make up for her lack in political substance. But she’s not being treated any better or worse than any other politician. She just whines about it more often, that’s all.

she appeals to the jerry springer viewer in us all. bristol, levi’s oxytocin dealing mother, etc. and unlike most of the people on springer she’s good looking. contrast with mike huckabee who is also a creationist evangelical of lower middle class origins. he’s bbboorrriiinnnggg. sarah palin & co. *are* compelling….

@Susan
I agree. Bob Dole was the minority leader of the Senate, which I’m sure is a tougher job than Governor of Alaska, and he didn’t resign from the senate until election year. I smell a scandal–either that or she is planning start a talk-radio show.

True. I’d venture that a similar proportion has Romney pegged as a Ken-doll flip-flopper, Bush as an idiot, and Obama as a socialist. How many people looked upon Reagan as Bonzo’s lesser half? Every politician has a cross to bear. Simply because they’re bearing their cross doesn’t make them disqualified for higher office nor ineffective in office, which seems to be the standard being applied to Palin.

nothing’s impossible, but only a true believer would be willing to take bets.

A true believer on which side of the question though? I see a lot of certainty about Palin’s complete and utter lack of potential, as though belief in certainty translates into reality. It’s fun to mock the Palinistas who think she walks on water, but it’s equally as much fun to pop the bubbles of those who are quick with their pronouncements of her demise, or failure to walk and chew gum, and their certainty that she can’t amount to anything, when such certainty flies in the face of the evidence that she did amount to something, that she did have the highest approval ratings of any of her contemporaries, that she took on the establishment in her State and came out the winner. I see no grounds which support her critics having such absolute certainty in their pronouncements.

but of course most of the popularity of parties and ergo their candidates is cyclical and exogenous to the nature of parties themselves.

That being the case, why shouldn’t a pol in Palin’s position attempt to ride the prevailing currents? Why is Obama a political genius for riding the Anyone But Bush bandwagon, but Palin is an idiot is she attempts to position herself to ride the expected Anti-Obama Socialism bandwagon? I mean, that would be the “intelligent” thing to do, wouldn’t it?

you should just tell people to stop psychoanalyzing instead of going into svengali mode about how she’s honorable.

I can spin bullshit right back at people who throw theirs out as though their speculations are wisdom.

Sure, so long as you put aside the stories Obama had to contend with, such as his not being an American citizen; his being a secret Muslim; his being a militant Afro-American Christian (and a Muslim at the same time? How talented.); how he’s a Saudi plant, etc. etc. Yeah, what an unfair advantage.

The criticisms directed at Obama were easily characterized as conspiracy theories and thus their proponents could be marginalized. Palin’s task against her critics doesn’t enjoy the same opportunity to marginalize the criticisms and critics. Point in Obama’s favor and that point overlooks the well-documented ignorance that many of his supporters demonstrated about his policies.

The only reason it may seem Palin’s being excessively attacked is because she loves to gab about it in the media.

I don’t buy that for a second because the evidence doesn’t support that conclusion. She was attacked for a whole host of reasons, many of which were premised on falsities, and she didn’t respond, and yet the attacks continued, were escalated and broadened to new topics. Post election she came to the Lower 48 to announce a major accomplishment in bringing to fruition the pipeline deal, a deal that had eluded her predecessors, you know the typical “intelligent Governors”, and Letterman is cracking jokes about her appearance, others are commenting on her toenail polish, and the whole brouhaha about raping her daughters erupts. She didn’t bring any of that on herself.

Her modus operandi is to obtain celebrity status. She marketed herself as a media personality in order to make up for her lack in political substance.

Is this an illustration of the psychoanalyzing you were referencing earlier? Recall, the political ads equating a political candidate to Paris Hilton were directed at Obama, not Palin.

But she’s not being treated any better or worse than any other politician. She just whines about it more often, that’s all.

Now that’s a comment that matches Heather’s Kael-like comment for comedy.

she appeals to the jerry springer viewer in us all.

She’s no different than Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, who matched her for personal foibles, but outshine her in the realm of providing more fodder based on corruption and failed policies. Odd that there seem to be no scandals based on Palin’s actual political record, from her time on the Oil and Gas Commission to her time as Governor.

dude. LOL. i can’t believe you’re expending this much time on this game (on other weblogs too). george bush isn’t too smart, but he’s upper class. bill clinton isn’t upper class, but he’s a rhodes scholar. your attempt to make equivalences are kind of funny, but i’m sure that this comment will elicit 2,000 words in defense in palin

Raping her daughers, plural? I vaguely remember some debate over whether the joke was about rape or not. I certainly remember the argument over which daughter the joke was about. But not once did I hear anyone – not even the soon-to-be former governor of Alaska – claim the joke was about raping multiple daughters. I understand you’re upset, but it’s not worth leaving several innocent young girls ravaged in your memory.

But not once did I hear anyone – not even the soon-to-be former governor of Alaska – claim the joke was about raping multiple daughters.

I meant for my comment to be taken as a neutral choice in the “which daughter did Letterman really attack” debate. Perhaps we can compromise on this grand issue by accepting the claim that Letterman meant that A-Rod was knocking up Bristol, because she was in the news for being pregnant, thus giving Letterman the most charitable interpretation for the joke, and that Willow was the hooker that Spitzer was trying to frequent.

Palin suffered some, amongst people not convinced that she (1) walks on water or (2) is the anti-Christ, for her hypocrisy over the “Bridge to Nowhere” funding. Staying on as Governor of Alaska in this time of federal largess to states facing record budget deficits only serves to highlight her double-talk about “shrinking government” while slopping greedily from the federal trough. Note that it was Mark Sanford, not Sarah Palin, who seized and ran with the we-don’t-want-no-stinkin-stimulus meme.

I don’t necessarily think that’s the only reason she decided to resign, but it’s a damn good reason. It’s hard for me to see what benefit she gets from staying on as Governor. This way, she takes a brief hit for being a quitter, which of course she and her fan base will spin relentlessly, but she’s off the hook for anything that further damages her reputation as a reformer or anti-government crusader.

TangoMan :
2.) The marginal gain of new ideas may not overcome the marginal cost required to implement them in an environment where she’s incurring $500,000 of personal legal costs per year in order to operate as Governor;

Cry me a river, why don’t you? She signed a book deal with HarperCollins in 2007 supposedly worth $7 million. And even without that, she has a devoted fanbase who will gladly foot her bills. She’ll be fine.

On the other hand, her dropping out in order to make more money sooner is very plausible. The value of her memoirs probably skyrocketed since yesterday. Hey, to hell with the state. Strike while the iron’s hot!

$500K legal bill? Compare that against the book contract and the Sarah Palin legal defence fund. She could cover the legal bills with about 10 speeches. The VP selection was a net financial windfall for the Gov.

That’s an interesting point about the memoirs. I don’t know how her publisher will feel about this move. They contracted for a book by a sitting governor, after all, one with her eye presumably firmly fixed on higher office. Unless there’s some great personal or political drama (as yet to be revealed) behind the resignation, it could be a negative.

There are two types of memoirs. The first are the kind that have some genuine literary merit, and are actually written by the author of record. The second–and by far the higher volume–are ghostwritten celebrity tomes. Palin’s book falls into the latter category. What worth in the marketplace has a celebrity memoir about someone who might very well fade into obscurity? No one’s going to read this book because it will be an aesthetic/intellectual experience.

I read somewhere that there will be two versions of Palin’s book published simultaneously. The second version will have a lot of Christian material incorporated into it. Maybe HarperCollins (which does have a religious imprint, HarperOne) will end up positioning the book purely for the Christian market.

Well, it may all depend on her reasons for resigning–if she ever reveals them.

Palin’s only hope for giving substance to the argument that she is qualfied to be president was to actually accumulate the executive experience her fans attributed to her. She’s just destroyed the grounds for that argument, demonstrating a sense of entitlement and belief that her identity credentials indeed suffice for the job.

Palin’s only hope for giving substance to the argument that she is qualfied to be president was to actually accumulate the executive experience her fans attributed to her.

You write with such certainty. There are multiple paths to the White House. President Obama argued that running a competitive campaign is de facto evidence of superb executive skills, so if Governor Palin launches a competitive campaign then she meets that standard.

Alternatively, if she articulates thoughtful policy positions then she mitigates the concern of some.

As it is, she already has a history of executive success that easily surpassed the executive qualifications of McCain and Obama, and considering the many gaffes made my President Obama thus far, her record of accomplishments still reflect favorably on her in the comparison.

Palin’s only hope at convincing you might have been to log in an additional 16 months in office. Fine.

I simply don’t understand the vitriol based on Palin’s 8 week presence in the campaign, where she played to the McCain script. Why such visceral arguments designed to forestall her participation in primaries, a process which will test her alongside her competitors. If she performs as the idiot you believe she is, then her more capable competitors will spectacularly take her out of the game.

@TangoMan
It is not at evident that a sitting office holder must resign in order to run for president or any other office. That’s what why candidates appoint campaign managers and form exploratory committees in order to start fund raising and grass roots organizing.As long as Palin limits her out of state visits to govern conferences etc. and does not actively campaign, she can still lay the ground work for 2012.

And I really can’t imagine the exchange you describe. Maybe

“Yes, it’s true that I, like, resigned as Governor and, like, I know,you know, that by Gosh the mainstream media would start those darn attacks, but like, by Gosh with a servant’s heart , as a man thinketh in his heart so is he , you know I did the honorable thing. And I betcha that people who like, live in the small towns like we love to visit, you know, who have a good conscious (sic) would, by Golly, prefer a candidate who, like the average Joe Sixpack point guard on the small town basketball team, that like brings the town together the way I want to bring conservatives together in a big diverse gymnasium, who like passes the ball for an easy lay up instead of, like a Northeastern elitist, trying to take it in for a slam dunk. I’ve prayed about it and I know I’m darn right.

Honestly, Palin can’t pull more than about 30% of the popular vote at best. Why do people even talk about her except as a possible spoiler for a GOP win in 2012?

don’t exaggerate goldwater pulled in more than 38 even when the democratic party was in its last years of the post-FDR majority. according to political scientist andrew gelman there’s been a marked decrease in fluctuation of party preference on the national presidential level so probably the republicans have a lock on 45% as a baseline no matter what.